Court says Scouts 'perversion files' public record

PORTLAND, Ore. 
The Oregon Supreme Court has approved the release of 20,000 pages of so-called perversion files compiled by the Boy Scouts of America on suspected child molesters within the organization for more than 20 years, giving the public its first chance to review the records.

The files gathered from 1965 to 1985 came to light when they were used as evidence in a landmark Oregon lawsuit that ended in 2010 with a jury ruling that the Scouts had failed to protect a plaintiff who had been molested by an assistant scoutmaster in the early 1980s.

The Scouts were ordered to pay the man $18.5 million and the case drew attention to the organization's efforts to keep child molesters out of its leadership ranks.

The perversion files contain accusations against Scout leaders that ranged from child abuse to lesser offenses that would prohibit them from working in the Scouts. The organization, headquartered in Irving, Texas, has said the files have succeeded in keeping molesters out of the Scouts.

The Boy Scouts fought to keep the files sealed in the Oregon case. But a judge ruled that since the information was used at trial it was public record, prompting the organization to appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court.

A Multnomah County judge had said that the names of alleged victims and the people who reported the accusations should be kept private. The state Supreme Court agreed with his decision.

The Scouts argued opening the files could unfairly affect those who were suspected but never convicted of abuse. The organization also said that if the information were to go public it could prejudice potential jurors in future trials.

Media organizations, including The Associated Press, The Oregonian, The New York Times, Oregon Public Broadcasting, KGW-TV, and Courthouse News Service challenged the Scouts' effort to keep the files under seal, arguing that their introduction by attorneys in the suit makes them public record.

The 20,000 pages at the center of the Oregon public records case - files kept on a total of 1,200 people - are part of a larger trove of confidential documents the Boy Scouts of America began compiling several decades ago on people flagged as being possible molesters. By 1935, a New York Times article that said the Scouts had 2,910 "cards" on men who were unfit to supervise young boys.

Scout executives had no written guidelines on the subject until a 1972 memo that urged them to keep such files confidential "because of misunderstandings which could develop if it were widely distributed."

"Scouts are safer because those files exist," the Scouts said in a statement released Thursday. "While we respect the court, we are still concerned that the release of two decades' worth of confidential files into public view, even with the redactions indicated, may still negatively impact victims' privacy and have a chilling effect on the reporting of abuse."

The state Supreme Court appeared to limit its opinion by saying that allowing the media and public to review exhibits from a trial may not be the correct decision in every case.